Yonge Street bank building restored

From time to time, the owners of this former bank building have asked us to look at various elements of their property. Our most recent engagement involved replacing some of the decorative corbels and masonry which had spalled due to roof leakage. We chose a 50-year paint coating (Dow Corning Allguard) on the previously painted elements. We also addressed a challenge inherent to the building's north facade being butted against a hillock where the railway line runs. There's a wild space there where too many trees were overlapping the property line. By removing approximately 40 smallish stems (four to eight inches in diameter), we were able to provide the area with more light, provide better air movement, and a dryer micro-climate, thereby making it a more pleasant space. Watch the film

Dayvan Showroom complete

In designing the downtown Toronto designer showroom for Dayvan (a division of Richelieu), we transformed a dark, 700-square foot contractors' order desk into a 2500-square foot display space.   

We appropriated approximately 1000-square feet from their warehouse, and to ensure the warehouse wouldn't be compromised, redesigned parts of it to be more efficient. This included vertical shelving, a new pick-up counter (with integrated storage), and a mezzanine. The mezzanine was simple to integrate and only required heavier framing -- so it was a no-brainer.

Steel posts were installed throughout the showroom to support the existing masonry stories above, and were then clad in FSC-recycled quarter-sawn Southern Yellow Pine, which was used along with Douglas Fir for the casings, baseboards, frieze, valence, sills, millwork and boardroom table. 

We wanted to make the space as flexible as possible so, rather than putting on a drywall or a dropped acoustic-tile ceiling, we stripped back all the layers -- reconfiguring the sprinkler system and incorporating a low-voltage track lighting system on four separate dimming channels. By exposing the ceiling joists and wood floor decking above and spray painting it all white, we made it visually interesting, bright and clean.

We polished all of the concrete floors in lieu of tiling or carpeting as we didn't want to add a layer of something just for the sake of it. It's beautiful, maintenance-free, and wears its history proudly. 

Wherever possible, we incorporated products that would be sold in the showroom itself, such as the MechoShades window coverings, MWH and crowder sliding door tracking systems.